Well, Lucy (Nicole Kidman) is having a hell of a week. Despite being cleared by the committee, newspapers have caught wind that she's a communist (not true), tabloids have reports that her husband, Desi (Javier Bardem) cheated on her and she's twelve weeks pregnant (though she continues to smoke and drink) and is worried about how that will effect her hit TV show as Desi wants the writers to incorporate it into the show though they're convinced that CBS will disagree.
Told in five acts, following the TV show as it develops and gears up to film live on Friday evening (in front of a live studio audience) with flashbacks, you learn how much Lucy contributes to the show thought she's gunning for Desi to also be credited as being an EP and how much she needs the show, given that it saved her career. She was dropped by her studio after her first juicy role but then found success on radio and TV shows and she was insistent that she and her husband work together though he's of Cuban descent. And then, at the very end just when her show appears to be saved, she learns the truth: Desi did in fact cheat on her, his pregnant wife (scumbag) and how she gets through the show after the reveal.
While I do think the film would have benefitted from a bit more of an explanation of why being viewed as a communist was such a big deal in 1952, I found the film solid, though Bardem was miscast as Desi. He did his best but while Kidman managed to disappear under Ball's skin (despite being at least a decade older than Ball actually was), Bardem didn't managed to capture Desi's innocent charm. The rest of cast was also great, and the screenplay was snappy, thanks to Sorkin's immense talents in that regard. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-The supporting cast includes J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy and Tony Hale and all are brilliant.
-I need to watch Lucy's good film with Henry Fonda, the one which led to her contract not being renewed.
-Lucy has some great revelations while folding laundry. I wish I did.
-The beginning scene where Lucy has to guess who it is covering her eyes seems to be rather stupid.
-I'm glad the show did have a female writer.
-The film ending mentions nothing of communism but rather that Lucy filed for divorce immediately after the show ended.
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